Strategic Affection?: Gift Exchange in Seventeenth-Century Holland (Amsterdam University Press - Solidarity and Identity)

286 Pages·2007·1.64 MB·English

by  Irma Thoen

Irma Thoen
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arity a Irma Thoen is a cultural historian who received her doctorate from nd Ide ity a
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Soli the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. tity d
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‘The first gift is the womb of the second’, notes Johan de Brune, the t
r
author of a seventeenth-century Dutch emblem book. This quote re- a
t
flects the notion that, contrary to modern day people, seventeenth-
e
century individuals did not feel uneasy about stressing the reciprocal g
i
character of their gift exchanges. We perceive ‘them’ as selfish beings
c
who only exchange gifts for personal gain, while ‘we’ only give gifts
A
altruistically and from the kindness of our hearts. Is this a fair assump-
f
tion? And what does this assumption reveal about us? f
e
In Strategic Affection? Irma Thoen uses gift exchange practices as a c
t
way to analyse the nature of early-modern social relations. The prac-
i
o
tices of exchange, the meanings of gifts and the cultural conventions
n
that inform the exchange of gifts in seventeenth-century Holland are
?
discussed and compared to the social practice of gift exchange in
Holland today. Thoen’s analysis makes the men and women in her
story come to life and allows the reader to enter their lives, their strug-
gles for friendship, honour and survival, their fears, beliefs and feelings
T
of relief. h
o
e
n
Strategic Affection?
ISBN-13 978 90 5356 811 8
ISBN-10 90 5356 811 5
Gift Exchange in
Seventeenth-Century Holland
www.aup.nl
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aup_thoen.indd฀฀฀1 11-12-2006฀฀฀13:47:44
StrategicAffection?
SOLIDARITYAND IDENTITY
Recentsocial,culturalandeconomicdevelopmentsinWesternso-
ciety are at the basis of increasing cultural and ethnic diversity.
People’ssocialandculturalidentititiesarebecomingmorevaried.
What are the consequences of these developments for social
bonds and solidarity? Finding answers to this question is the aim
oftheseriesSolidarityandIdentity.
editors ofthe series
Prof. dr. A.E. Komter, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences,
UtrechtUniversity
Prof. dr. J. Burgers, Faculty of Social Sciences, Erasmus University
Rotterdam
Prof.J.C.Rath,InstituteforMigrationandEthnicStudies,Universityof
Amsterdam
previously published
Minghuan Li, We Need Two Worlds: Chinese Immigrant Associations in a
WesternSociety,1999(isbn9789053564028)
Aafke E.Komter,JackBurgers andGodfriedEngbersen,Hetcementvan
desamenleving:eenverkennendestudienaarsolidariteitencohesie,2000/
20042(isbn9789053564370)
Clementine van Eck, Purified by Blood: Honour Killings amongst Turks in
theNetherlands,2002(isbn9789053564912)
Joanne van der Leun, Looking for Loopholes: Processes of Incorporation of
IllegalImmigrantsintheNetherlands,2003(isbn9789053566008)
Marc Hooghe, Sociaal kapitaal in Vlaanderen: verenigingen en
democratischepolitiekecultuur,2003(isbn9789053566435)
AafkeE.Komter,Solidariteitendegift:socialebandenensocialeuitsluiting,
2003(isbn9789053566459)
Marco van der Land, Vluchtige verbondenheid: stedelijke bindingen van de
Rotterdamsenieuwemiddenklasse,2004(isbn9789053566787)
Frank J. Buijs, Froukje Demant and Atef Hamdy, Strijders van eigen
bodem: radicale en democratische moslims in Nederland, 2006 (isbn
9789053569160)
Strategic Affection?
Gift Exchange in Seventeenth-Century
Holland
Irma Thoen
Thepublicationofthisbookhasbeenmadepossiblebydonations
from the European University Institute, the J.E. Jurriaanse Stich-
ting, Stichting Dr. Hendrik Muller’s Vaderlandsch Fonds, and the
M.A.O.C.GravinvanBylandtStichting.
Coverillustration:DirckHals,APartyatTable(1626),The
NationalGallery,London
Coverdesign:SabineMannel,neongrafischevormgeving,Am-
sterdam
Layout:japes,Amsterdam
isbn-13 9789053568118
isbn-10 9053568115
nur 757
©AmsterdamUniversityPress,Amsterdam2007
Allrightsreserved.Withoutlimitingtherightsundercopyrightreservedabove,
nopartofthisbookmaybereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoaretrieval
system,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans(electronic,mechanical,
photocopying,recordingorotherwise)withoutthewrittenpermissionofboth
thecopyrightownerandtheauthorofthebook.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements 7
Introduction 9
DefiningtheGift 11
GiftsinTheory 13
SourcesandMethodology 24
PartI:PracticesofGiftExchange 45
DailyHospitality 45
HospitalityatCalendarFeasts 58
HospitalityandRitesofPassage 73
OtherGifts 82
NetworksofExchange 91
Conclusion 95
PartII:GiftsandMeanings 97
A.RitesofPassage 97
MarriageandCookingPots 98
BirthandChristeningGifts 116
DeathandSupportthroughPoeticLetters 121
Conclusion 128
B.Hospitality 130
TheOrganisationofHospitality 131
DiscoursesonHospitality 133
HospitalitytowardsProfessionalContacts:Tailorsand
WetNurses 137
StadholdersandForcedHospitality 140
HospitalityandReciprocity 147
Conclusion 150
PartIII:TermsandConditionsofExchange 151
BrotherlyExchange 151
FriendlyExchange 164
ProfessionalExchange 173
5
LiteraryExchange 184
Conclusion 194
PartIV:ComparisoninTime 197
PracticesofExchange 199
DiscoursesonExchangeintheLetterstotheFuture 212
CulturalConventions 218
Conclusion 222
Conclusion 223
Notes 231
Sources 269
Literature 271
IndexofSubjects 283
6
Acknowledgements
Naturallyaworklikethiscannotbecompletedwithoutthehelpof
family, friends and professional contacts. Some of these people
havehelpedmethroughtheiracademicknowledgeandcriticalre-
marks on my work, some of them have inspired me through the
discussions we had, and others were there to support and posi-
tively distract me. Although it is impossible to mention all these
peoplebyname,thereareafewthatIwishtothankexplicitly.
FirstofallIwanttoextendmygratitudetomysupervisor,Peter
Becker. Although his field of expertise does not include seven-
teenth-century Holland nor gift exchange, he has proved himself
willing and able to supervise this book. Secondly, I wish to thank
my co-supervisor, Willem Frijhoff. Not only is his knowledge of
early-modern Dutch history – and many other things – unsur-
passed,theswiftnesswithwhichhereadsandcorrectstextsisun-
equalled.
Other academic contacts that have helped me throughout the
years are Ingrid van der Vlis, who helped me with my database
project, and Alexander Geppert, who taught me the advantages of
a good bibliographical program. I am also indebted to Professor
ArjoKlamerandtheparticipantsofhis‘ValueofCulture’seminar
as well as to the participants of Frijhoff’s ‘Cultural History’ semi-
nar.
AlexandravanDongen,curatorattheBoijmansVanBeuningen
Museum,andCoraLaanareresponsibleforintroducingmetothe
field of material culture. The Meertens Institute in Amsterdam
haswelcomedmetodomyresearchonthe‘LetterstotheFuture’.
With Rudolf Dekker I discussed ego-documents in seventeenth-
century Holland, and with Jeroen Blaak I discussed the same and
many other research issues. I also want to thank Jeroen for his
hospitality;hewaskindenoughtosharehisofficewithmewhen-
everIwasinHollandforoneofmy‘missions’.
Naturally I also want to thank my parents. They have always
been very supportive of me, in every way they possibly could. Still
the most important gift they have offered me throughout my life
7
is their faith that I can do whatever I set my mind to. I hope this
bookisproofthattheywererightaboutmeallalong.
Last but conventionally not least, I want to thank Serge for all
his practical and mental support. I could have probably written
this book without you, but with you it has been so much more
funandsomuchmoreinteresting.
IrmaThoen
September2006
8
Introduction
When in 1624 Constantijn Huygens was staying in London with
an official delegation, he received a number of letters from Dor-
othea van Dorp.1 Dorothea lived next to the Huygens family in
The Hagueandhad oncebeenhischildhood sweetheart. In these
lettersshenotonlykepthiminformedonthelatestgossipofhigh
society in The Hague, but she also urged Huygens on several oc-
casions to have Lady Killigrew, a mutual acquaintance, send her a
present.2On24MarchDorotheawrote:
“IwishladyKilligrewwouldsendmealittlegoldenring.”3
AmonthlatershereceivedanumberofgemstonesfromthisLady
Killigrew, for which Dorothea thanked her through the mediation
of Huygens. In May, Dorothea sent Lady Killigrew a present; a
bracelet made of amber. This gift was presumably also offered
upon request, for it was accompanied by a letter to Huygens
whichstated:
“Iam glad there is something she wishes to have from me. This
andeverythingIpossessinthisworldisatherdisposal.Shewill
domegreathonourbywearingit,withwhichshewillgreatlyob-
ligemeto her.Tell herthat itcomesfromsomeonewhoismore
her servant than anyone has ever been, notwithstanding all the
peoplethatloveher.”4
These phrases about Lady Killigrew went on for a while, after
which Dorothea directed her attentions once more to Huygens
himself:
“Ibegyou:donotforgetthelittleringshehaspromisedme.”5
ThisbeggingforgiftsseemstosuggestthatDorotheawasarather
bad-mannered young girl; it is definitely not a way in which one
would expect “a humble servant” to behave. Yet Dorothea van
9